Buterin questions AI safety group’s political shift after $500M SHIB cashout

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote on X that the Future of Life Institute (FLI) shifted into political advocacy after liquidating about $500 million from his 2021 Shiba Inu (SHIB) token donation, a direction he did not back and one he warned could lead to authoritarian outcomes.

He outlined that he split the SHIB he received in 2021 between FLI and the CryptoRelief fund. Based on what he viewed as shallow liquidity in SHIB then, he expected FLI would be able to cash out only $10 million to $25 million. Instead, the institute realized roughly $500 million, an amount he characterized as similar to CryptoRelief’s proceeds.

Before the gift, FLI presented him with a plan to improve major existential risks, including biosecurity, nuclear risk and AI, along with pro‑peace and pro‑epistemics initiatives, according to his post.

After the donation, he wrote, the institute went through “an internal pivot” that made “cultural and political action” its primary method. As he recounted it, FLI argued that artificial general intelligence could arrive soon and that fast action was needed to balance the lobbying resources of large AI companies.

Buterin contrasted FLI’s approach with roughly $40 million he recently directed to his own initiative focused on open-source security hardware and pandemic detection technologies.

Even with his concerns, he pointed to recent FLI efforts he supports, highlighting the group’s “pro-human AI declaration,” which he described as uniting conservatives, progressives and libertarians across the United States, Europe and China, and addressing worries that range from unemployment to surveillance.

On its website, FLI states that its mission is to steer transformative technology to benefit life and away from extreme large-scale risks, with core focus areas in artificial intelligence, biotechnology and nuclear weapons. Buterin noted that the funds at issue originated from SHIB tokens he received from the project in 2021 and then donated.

Earlier this month, Vitalik Buterin outlined a ‘sanctuary tech’ vision, urging Ethereum to remain neutral, open infrastructure and to shape systems rather than take sides in specific disputes. He cited rising risks from surveillance, geopolitical conflict, social media decay, and AI power concentration, and argued that financial tools alone are insufficient.